SEFTON COLTS 28 ROSSENDALE COLTS 12

A strong gale blew down the length of the pitch and made ball handling difficult.

The home side had the advantage of the wind in the first half and made full use of it. Their talented fly half orchestrated two backs moves down the blindside which caught Rossendale napping. They both brought tries which he himself converted. Rossendale went a man down when left winger Jake Entwistle was sent to the sin bin for a dubious high tackle.

Nevertheless Rossendale denied Sefton any advantage as they started to raise their energy levels. Prop forward Jordan Lord was on the end of Dale’s most promising attack of the half but his handling skills let him down as he spilled the ball and the chance was gone.

The half time turnaround saw Rossendale hindered by a hip injury to scrum half Fraser Chadwick. However with the wind at their backs a comeback was on the cards. Entwistle made up for his earlier misdemeanour by going over in the corner, Will Sharratt converting, to open their account, but they failed to capitalise on it. Sefton remained resolute and their extra strength and experience told when their second row galloped over to give them a 28- 7 lead. Dale’s riposte saw Paul Hughes touch down , but it was all too little too late. Last week’s lay off due to the weather didn’t help Dale’s momentum but now their attention turns to their league campaign.

Three victories from their remaining three matches will give them the title. The first of these is against near neighbours Blackburn at home at Marl Pits this Sunday ko 2.00pm.